Malani Bilyeu — founding member of Kalapana and a Hoku Award-winning solo artist — has died, friends and family reported Thursday. He was 69 and had a home on Kauai.

State legislator Donna Mercado Kim posted a statement about Bilyeu’s death on Facebook on Thursday evening. “My cousin Kalani Bilyeu from Kalapana just passed away on Kauai. I am at a loss,” she said.

Born Carl James Malani Bilyeu in Honolulu and raised in Kalihi Valley, Bilyeu was a 26-year-old Vietnam vet when he founded Kalapana with Mackey Feary, D.J. Pratt and Kirk Thompson in 1974.

Kalapana became second only to Cecilio & Kapono as the biggest contemporary local group of the 1970s, playing sold-out concerts at the Waikiki Shell and partnering with C&K in 1976 to co-headline the biggest Aloha Stadium concert of the decade with local entertainers as the headliners.

From the beginning, Bilyeu was one of Kalapana’s resident songwriters. His contributions included “Naturally,” “You Make It Hard,” “Dorothy Louise,” “(For You) I’d Chase a Rainbow,” “Girl” and “Many Classic Moments.”

It’s about that time of the year when we hang up the lights, pull out the stockings and decorate the tree, that’s right it’s Christmas.

This Holiday we will be doing something a little special for all you. In the spirit of the holidays we will be celebrating the 12 days of Christmas. We’ve all heard the song growing up here in Hawai’i, you know the one with Tutu and the 5 big fat pigs. Well instead of Tutu giving out pounds of poi & ukuleles, we decided we do our own rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas & we will be calling it the 12 DAYS OF MELE KALIKIMAKA.

The 12 Days of Mele Kalikimaka will consist of Festive Gifts. We hope this will encourage the spirit of giving more to the ones we hold close to us and even to the ones who are just entering our lives. Good luck shopping, happy holidays and have a Merry Christmas.

This past Saturday, December 8th, 2018, was the moment Hawaiians and MMA Fans across the world have been waiting for. Max “Blessed” Holloway returned to the octagon after a 1-year hiatus, to defend his belt and face the opponent the UFC & Media were championing during his absence.

UFC 231 took place in Toronto, Canada which is now dubbed the 10th island thanks to Max. It was an amazing card, from prelims to the pay-per view. But we were all waiting for one fight. We were all waiting to witness history. We were all waiting to see Waianae’s son Max show the world why he deserves be put up there with the greats. Why we as Hawaiians are known for our culture. We were waiting for the pride of Hawai’i to have his hands raised and hear those magical words “AND STILL!”.

The moment had come. Everyone gathered around their televisions from Waianae to Hawai’i Kai, from Kauai to the Big Island. Hawai’i was tuned in and we were anxious. We got to witness this 27 year old Hawaiian prove to the world that he’s no joke. Dominating Brian Ortega round after round until a late 4th round stoppage called by the official ring side Doctor.

Salute to Ortega but it’s the Blessed Era. Congratulations Max, Hawai’i is proud of you and for those who didn’t know, know now. Continue working hard, being an inspiration to the youth and representing for Hawai’i on the biggest of stages.

After spending his previous octagon tenure at flyweight, Smolka (13-5 MMA, 5-5 UFC) will move up to bantamweight for the matchup with Sumudaerji (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).

MMAjunkie confirmed the matchup with a person with knowledge of the signing who requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement. MMA Reporter James Lynch first reported Smolka re-signing with UFC.

Smolka, 27, will return to the UFC for a second stint after making an unceremonious exit from the company the first time around. After going on a four-fight winning streak inside the octagon, Smolka became the first flyweight in company history to drop four straight, marking the end of his tenure with the promotion. He’s won back-to-back fights since his release, though, and that was enough to get him back in.

Sumudaerji, 22, fights out of China and has become a proven finisher early in his career. He’s earned all eight of his career victories by stoppage, with all but one of them coming by way of knockout.